


Singularity

by Starkangejr



Series: I love you, I hate you, I can't be without you [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Green Lantern - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Denial, Deus Ex Machina, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Stranded
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:00:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29968821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starkangejr/pseuds/Starkangejr
Summary: Bruce finds Hal but there's something different about him that wasn't there before.
Relationships: Hal Jordan/Bruce Wayne
Series: I love you, I hate you, I can't be without you [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2199198
Kudos: 12
Collections: Batlantern Week





	Singularity

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is!! The insight to what happened on Oter, this is a prologue to Connection.
> 
> Marked as Mild Dub-Con because of how meeting one's soulmate works but also possibly some Planet outside mojo in the works

Hal lays himself out across the grassy knolls of Planet Oter, staring aimless out towards the sky in what feels like the millionth time. The stars have shifted, as is common with Planets that spin on their own axis with their own solar system and pattern to life. It would be beautiful if this hadn’t been his view for the past few weeks. For once he feels a little lost on what his solutions are. It’s a habitable Planet, that’s the only try saving grace to his predicament, however that isn’t exactly the problem he faces.

His Ring is dead.

Stupidly he thought he could make it back from his mission on Sarlex in time before it needed a recharge. And now he's facing the very apparent mistake, having picked the Planet for it’s breathable air and proximity more than anything else. If he had died out in space, no one would have pitied him. Probably laughed at his frozen corpse, drifting in the endless void, waiting to get picked up by some other planet's gravity to churn him into dust on impact. Which, sad and gross, did not happen. He got lucky, Hal knows this for a fact, but he’s wondering if his luck has run out now.

The Planet has weird plants, odder wildlife and Hal has no clue what is or isn't safe to consume, so he’s just been gnawing on anything that hasn’t made him sick. He wonders how long it’ll take everyone to notice he’s gone and a stab of guilt worms its way in his chest at the thought. He doubts __anyone__ in their right mind would __want__ to know where he is. He deliberately ignores the most recent incident that had caused him to come out here in this parsec in the first place when he ponders on his situation more. Hal knows he’s made a habit of disappearing for months on end with no word, missions for Oa weren’t exactly next door fixes. But Hal also knows that because of this, he is very well acquainted with completely ignoring the people who care about him to hide out in space where they can’t follow. Worst Green Lantern, he can hear the snickering whispers of the others in his head. He sees the faint scowl from Batman, just lingering at the edges of his thoughts. Carol always said he was too full of himself. Shame he was going to die on some other Planet and he couldn’t even call her to say she was right.

Hal scrubs a hand over his face, sighing, feeling empty and exhausted.

Maybe he deserves it. He always goes too far when the stress has pent up long enough, this is just karma. His thoughts drift, replaying all his recent mistakes and it feels like it’s been hours, his focus ebbing from the point the longer he stays in his wallowing state. It’s exacerbated by the Planet’s lack of clear night or day cycles. There’s no true indicator of time passing, he can thank the four suns that line the horizon in all their gaseous glory. It’s only the gradual movement of the suns that might have given hints if the Planet didn’t make an already odd orbital path and if it wasn’t so painful to stare at the bright lamps. The Suns aren’t as bad as Earth’s, but it does force Hal to figure his shit out or burn out his eyes. He’s stubborn. He won’t let his stupidity kill him. He isn’t going to be depressed about it either. Hal’s mind drifts to thinking about the things he’d be leaving behind if he did kick the bucket, to try and change his spirits on the whole ordeal. He thinks about his soulmate first, not that he’s ever met them, but it would still suck to die and having never known if he actually had another half. A piece of him out there waiting to be joined.

Hal nibbles on a space fruit, imagining what his soulmate must look like, about as close to entertainment as he’ll get on this dingy Planet; outside of staring at the sky of course.

* * *

The files they have collected about the Planet Oter are sparse. It has breathable air, an uncultivated ecosystem and is almost leagues away from Hal’s sector boundaries. Neither John, Kyle or Guy have seen Hal--they think he’s taken an unspoken vacation out of sector and is hiding in space after the big argument he and Bruce shared only weeks before. John assures Bruce that Hal isn’t stupid enough to go somewhere too far or be gone long enough where he wouldn’t be able to charge his ring and strand himself out in the middle of space. Any number of the Lanterns from Oa would tell him the same.

Unfortunately there is a deep seated doubt in the pit of his stomach that makes Bruce investigate it himself. He cannot trust their judgment, either because they are too confident in Hal’s self preservation or because they don’t know Hal the same way Bruce does. They aren’t as observant as Bruce, he knows because almost everyone is shocked by his skills when he presents the obvious. Batman watches the others, has gotten used to their mannerisms and tells, but Hal has always been the easiest to read. Bruce knows exactly when he’s annoyed, when he’s agitated, stressed, happy, exhausted, sad and scared.

It also helps that Bruce knows thinly veiled regret when he sees it. Hal hadn’t meant a word that he said but instead of apologizing, he left. A normal occurrence for the Lantern, it shouldn’t have been such a cause for concern. Instinct told him otherwise, Hal’s mood had been volatile even before they had run into each other and Bruce couldn’t parse the pieces together. He didn’t have all the facts but this wasn’t normal. Hal should have been home by now and Batman was going to find him.

Oter is the last place the ring’s signature had pinged near, so that’s where Bruce headed.

The jet is fast but it still takes him a full five days before he arrives, hovering in the atmosphere and making scans of the surface for any signs of Hal. After an hour, he can't get any accurate readings and his patience is running thin. Bruce lands the ship against his better judgment and heads out on foot, following the last signal sent from the Ring to try and find Hal. Bruce wears an oxygen mask just in case, paranoia creeping in as he makes his way through the wide open plains. He thinks he’s only been walking a few minutes but something makes him look back, searching for the jet, Hal, a presence behind? A stab of dread sinks in his gut when he does __not__ see the jet, given his gait and the short time since he stepped onto the Planet, it shouldn’t __look__ like he’s been walking for hours. Bruce checks the locator he brought with him and balks at the results. It says the ship is only a hundred and fifty miles away from where he is but he has no idea how he walked so far without noticing.

Either the Planet has a lot more going on with it than can be seen on the surface or he’s suffering from an adverse reaction to something. Bruce treads with care, feeling the pressure of finding Hal press harder in his chest. He needs to see him but the longer he goes without it, the harder it is for Bruce to remember why he came to Oter at all.

* * *

Hal sits atop a rock, staring off into the horizon, as is slowly becoming his favorite pastime here. His pilot jacket rests under him as he leans on one knee and is comforted by the gentle breeze blowing through his hair. He’s thinking about what to have for dinner, just another fruit off the nearby tree or something with less juice. Then Hal turns and he sees what he thinks must be his imagination.

Bruce.

His name is on the tip of his tongue, it drips from his lips like the sweetest taste of nectar. He feels something deep inside his chest throb at the sight of the familiar visage that Hal doesn’t even bother to question it. He’s never rushed into a hug so fast in his __life__. Holding Bruce is like a long awaited meeting, it fills his heart with a burst of joy that he can’t explain. He’s never felt this way before but touching Bruce, feeling his fingers slipping with purpose under the cowl, scratching against the damp nape and small hairs there. Hal touches the edges of the mask over Bruce’s face and pulls it from him without question before doing the unthinkable. Hal kisses Bruce like it’s what he’s been waiting for all his life. He kisses him right on the lips and wonders why they’ve never done this before. He’s __starving__ and Bruce is all the nourishment he needs.

The delicate and quiet gasp Bruce releases gets swallowed up by Hal’s hunger and he’s sinking into how good he feels. Hal is faintly aware of a possessive hand gripping his hip, holding him steady, as if his legs will give out any second. Instead he stands there, kissing and feeling Bruce return his passion with equal vigor, until another hand is digging up, under his shirt and gliding along his spine. They end up in the grass somehow and he needs the batsuit __off__ like _**_**hours**_** _ago__. He busies his hands with pushing the cowl off and freeing Bruce’s handsome face, loose smile beaming down at him as he looks into those cool blue eyes. Hal can feel everything, like it’s been amplified tenfold and wrapped around itself to fold even further.

They say when you finally touch your soulmate that the world becomes more clear. They say you share everything and all those stories weren’t lying, except perhaps they were a little misinformed on the __intensity__ of shared sensations. The push and pull of arousal is like a hot poker in his bones, desire running hot across his skin and he’s sure doing the same under Bruce’s leather suit. Hal wants to delve deeper, wants to taste everything Bruce has to offer and give in return. He sucks a hard mark into the crook of Bruce’s neck and gets a satisfied groan for his efforts, their clothes quickly untangling from their limbs while Hal gets a few marks of his own all over his throat, his collarbone and his shoulders.

When his jeans are pulled off along with his underwear, he’s embarrassingly hard already. Hissing into the air as Bruce bites the soft part of his neck to mark him, Hal shudders over his soulmate and loves that when he adjusts his position, he can feel that Bruce is in the same state. The anxiety in his chest bubbling over at what to do--what does he do? Should he be asking for a breather? Does he have even a single brain cell left to consider what else he could possibly need in this moment?--is short lived. Bruce knows exactly what they both want, it’s like they're talking to each other except without __words__ and Hal knows that the connection is real. It has to be, because he’s never had sex like this before. The fingers __pushing__ into his ass while he licks his way into Bruce’s mouth are quick and thick. Hal’s practically panting by the end of it, letting out a low whine in his throat that is met with an equally high strung grunt.

He doesn’t even have to ask. Bruce is holding him open and pushes his cock inside, right where Hal feels the most desperate. He gets impossibly full and his sensations are overloaded with a surge of contentment, love and longing. There’s so much __heat__ and Hal grinds his hips down, crying out when everything feels like it’s clicked in place. He belongs here. He belongs with Bruce and he wants to spend the rest of his life with his soulmate until they forget about everything else and their world is only full of them, their love.

Hal sets the pace--like he always does--meeting Bruce’s slow thrusts, until they find a good rhythm that works. Hal grinds down with each push up and he lets himself get lost in the sensations short circuiting his brain. He rides Bruce like it’s the last time he’ll have this, Hal is pretty sure this just might be his last round before heading straight for heaven. Because that’s what it feels like, muscles flexing and tightening against each other, the wet slick sound of two bodies moving against each other. Their breathless pants, trading air between deep kisses and the harsh way Bruce grabs at his body to keep him close. Hal leaves his own marks, nails digging into a thick bicep as he holds it to help him bounce on his soulmate’s cock with equal pressure and want. He knows when they’re close and it’s still a gut wrenching cry from his lips once his cock releases across Bruce’s stomach and he feels the spasm inside of his ass as Bruce milks himself dry. Orgasming together is better than any high and the experience lasts for _ _hours__. He doesn’t notice the lack of exhaustion, even after Bruce has him pressed firmly into the plush grass below them, pounding his ass until he sees _ _stars__ , just driving into him over and over again. He’s twisted in ways that are new and sweet. Hal doesn’t want them to stop, practically begs for them to keep going. Every time Bruce moves, tries to separate, he’s right there, clinging, __pleading__ to his soulmate and kissing him back into a heated embrace. He doesn’t want to leave this bliss.

* * *

The guilt knots high in his throat as he takes more and more until Hal is a breathless mess beneath him. There’s some clarity in Bruce’s mind as he lays out in the bright sun, arms and legs still wrapped around Hal’s body like a man clinging to a lifeline. Bruce feels an unease settle over him like earlier. He can’t perceive time here, likely a side effect of the Planet’s air and he’s only reminded of his original goal when he bites the inside of his cheek harder than he means to. The pain is grounding for him. He’s found Hal so now they need to leave. They have a home and this wasn’t it.

Bruce sits up, glancing down at the man he’s made love to over and over, until they were spent. The subtle sensation of warmth washes him and he recognizes it as not his own emotion. It’s coming from Hal and his mind is slow to connect the dots. He reasons with himself that neither of them were in their right mind. Something on this Planet made them do this. When Bruce looks across the tempting dip of Hal’s spine, staring at his slumbering body and wanting nothing more than to lay back down and join him, Bruce has to tear his eyes away. He can only come to these conclusions because he was here a lot less than Hal. Something about the Planet has exacerbated their bond and as much as Bruce wants to stay, there’s a part of him that realizes this isn’t safe.

It pains him to know he’s done this.

He wanted to remain isolated, to keep himself closed off from the hope of finding his other half. The less he knew about them, the easier it would be for them. Being a superhero wasn’t exactly the safest occupation and subjecting someone, anyone to such levels of pain--he couldn’t do it. He didn’t want this. Meeting one’s soulmate, learning who they are is supposed to be different. It’s all supposed to make sense but Bruce is met with unfettered emotions from their bond, only further serving to prove his fears right. They’ll share everything now; pleasure, pain, every touch between them will be amplified and Bruce can only see the darkness. He’s afraid of what he’ll send back, of feeling Hal getting hurt where he can’t help him and there isn’t enough time to worry about any of it. He needs to get them off this planet first or Bruce will succumb to the siren call of Hal’s body.

It’s only by a slim miracle that he manages to get the both of them dressed and Hal on his back to carry him. The bone tired sensation rolling through their bond is stronger from the contact but Bruce ignores it. He’s spent many a sleepless night powering through his patrols with sleep deprivation and aching muscles. He can weather this and he does, following the transponder and only trusting the blinking light of the navigation on his gauntlet.

Hal stirs, wrapping his arms tighter around Bruce’s neck as he nuzzles into Bruce’s hair and whispers a seductively hoarse, “Hey...is this real?”

“Yes.” Bruce responds and he feels a streak of warmth flood his senses. He closes his eyes, trying to remain unaffected as he keeps walking.

“Bruce--”

“Save your energy.” He interrupts without prompting. Bruce can’t let himself grow distracted and the last time he waited long enough for Hal to make the first move, they ended up fucking like animals. “We’re almost at the jet. We’re going home.”

“..Mmm...aren’t we already home?” Hal asks, resting his chin on top of Bruce’s shoulder, he squeezes his arms tighter together and hugs his soulmate. Bruce doesn’t answer for a long time and he frowns at the horizon before him. He can see the jet from here but it’s still a long ways out. He can’t trust his eyesight, the same way he can’t trust what he’s feeling or anything they’ll do on this planet. It’s messed with Hal for too long and if he isn’t careful, it’ll do the same to him. It’s already changed everything.

“No, Hal..We have to leave, it isn’t safe here.”

“What?! Nooo! It’s great here! Everything makes sense, we don’t have to worry about anything. Just us, just you and me..” Hal’s voice grows soft as he leans into the back of Bruce’s head and it takes a lot of restraint not to console the Lantern. Bruce wants to close off the connection, stop the rush of sensations that make him want to stay as he continues towards the jet. It’s closer now and his grip on Hal tightens, afraid that if he lets go, somehow the Planet will take him away. “Bruce please..please, don’t you want to stay? It’ll be just us, no one else. It’ll take care of us, can’t you feel it?”

That sends a cold chill through his spine, because all Bruce can feel is _Hal_ , Hal’s desire, his regret and his exhaustion. It would send him to his knees if he were a weaker man. Instead Bruce bites his lower lip to drive pain through his system and keep him moving. Hal mumbles a few more protests until finally the jet opens it’s Hangar and he’s got them inside. Bruce struggles as he gets Hal strapped into a seat, batting away the Lantern’s own hands as Hal tries to grab his wrists. Bruce kneels before him, staring up at Hal, a wash of vulnerability and grief swirling in the pit of his stomach as he sighs, leaning his head against Hal’s thighs.

Bruce is being selfish. He knows this, but if one thing has proven something to him, being Soulmates will interfere with their judgment. He can’t take back what he’s done but he can put distance between them. Bruce knows Hal likely won’t even remember anything, once he’s free from the influence of the Planet, things will go back to how they should. When he feels the comforting touch of a hand running through his hair, Bruce takes a slow shuddering breath, luxuriating in the closeness for a little longer before tearing himself away from it.

He brings them home, restricting Hal from missions while he recovers in medical. The timeline is indefinite, until they can be sure he’s free of the Planet Oter’s influence. Hal complains of course, about his restriction, hating bedrest as well as any of them. He even swears that he’s fine, but no one dares to ask Batman to lift the order. Bruce avoids visiting him and the temptation of it fades the longer they go without touching one another. Soulmates are meant to be two halves made whole when they come together. So why does Bruce feel worse knowing who his is?

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this one. Bruce panicked tm and now Hal is on permanent bedrest for a while, hence Bruce's benching of him. Do you think it was right of Bruce to hide the truth of what happened? Tell me what you think!


End file.
